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ITHACA, N.Y. – The 17^th-ranked Ithaca College wrestling had 10 Bombers take their first steps towards hopeful NCAA glory on Saturday when the 2020 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships got underway inside the Ithaca's Athletics and Events Center Glazer Arena. It was a fantastic opening day for Ithaca, as the Bombers emerge from the first day of action on the mats in a tie for first place with No. 9 TCNJ in the overall team standings with 85.0 team points.
 
With one grappler at each of 10 weight-classes looking to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships – set to be held at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in two week's time – the Bombers witnessed nine dreams continue into Sunday. Ithaca has nine grapplers still alive in the competition with seven IC wrestlers advancing in the championship bracket and two additional grapplers still in contention for third-place in consolation brackets. Both numbers are tied with TCNJ amongst the field of 18 teams at this year's regional tournament.
 
Headlining the day for the Bombers was the advancing group in the championship bracket, which included: sophomore Logan Ninos (125 LB), first-year Travis Jones (133 LB), senior Ben Brisman (149 LB), redshirt-sophomore Sam Schneider (157 LB), redshirt-senior Austin Whitney (165 LB), junior Jordan Wallace (174 LB), and sophomore Eze Chukwuezi (184 LB). All seven grapplers recorded two wins during Saturday's action and will enter Sunday's Semifinal Round potentially just a single win away from capturing a cherished bid to the NCAA Championships.
 
Additionally, seniors Tito Colom (141 LB) and Dalton Elias (285 LB) also enter Sunday with hopes a bid. Both wrestlers posted 2-1 records on Saturday and will need to win out tomorrow to earn the third-place finish necessary to punch a ticket to Cedar Rapids. The lone IC wrestler to not advance out of Saturday's action was junior 197-pounder Dymir Davis-Carruth, who posted a 1-2 record in the double-elimination tournament. Although disappointing, Davis-Carruth battled hard the entire way until the final horn and will look to grow from the valuable experience with another year eligibility remaining next season.
 
Bonus points were the theme of the day for Ithaca and a big reason it was able to keep pace with a nationally-ranked TCNJ squad that entered the weekend as the odds-on favorite of taking the team title. Ithaca's 10 grapplers combined for a total 17 total wins on Saturday. Of that total, 14 triumphs added bonus points to Ithaca's team total, as the Bombers racked up seven major decisions, three technical falls, and four falls on the day. Leading the group was junior 174-pounder Jordan Wallace (7^th NWCA | 8^th d3wrestle.com) who impressed with two first-period pins in Day One action on Saturday. Also adding victories by fall on the day were first-round triumphs by Tito Colom and Eze Chukwuezi (10^th NWCA | 10^th d3wrestle.com). Travis Jones, Sam Schneider and Austin Whitney (7^th NWCA | 6^th d3wrestle.com) each also had two bonus-point wins apiece on the day. Jones kept up his high-scoring ways with an 18-2 tech fall in his opening bout and matched the point output in an 18-6 triumph in the Quarterfinal Round. Schneider continued his strong late-season form with impressive results of a 20-5 tech fall and 13-3 major decision. Whitney also turned in a strong day with 11-1 and 16-8 major decisions. Davis-Carruth and Elias each added one major decision win on Saturday.
 
Several enticing battles lie ahead for the Bombers heading into the morning session on Sunday. Notably, Ithaca will have two head-to-head bouts against TCNJ grapplers during the first session, which could prove pivotal in the team title race. Ninos will face top-seeded TCNJ 125-pounder Daniel Ortega (8^th NWCA | 4^th d3wrestle.com) in a Semifinal Round tilt. Elias also had a wrestle-back bout against Thomas Marretta in the heavyweight division.
 
While the Bombers and Lions paced the field with 85.0 team points heading into Sunday, several other programs are within striking distance and will attempt to make a push up the standings on Sunday. Centenary (69.5), No. 23 Brockport (68.0), and No. 18 RIT (67.0) all are within 20 team points of the leaders, while ECWC rival SUNY Cortland (60.0) and the Centennial Conference's Muhlenberg (56.0) sit in sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
Action is slated to get underway at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.
 
The following are the full list of results from Saturday's action.
 
125 LB: Logan Ninos
Champ. Round 1 - Logan Ninos (Ithaca) won by decision over John DeConno (Oswego St.) (Dec 4-2)
Quarterfinal - Logan Ninos (Ithaca) won by decision over Matt Murawski (Scranton) (Dec 8-3)
 
133 LB: Travis Jones
Champ. Round 1 - Travis Jones (Ithaca) won by tech fall over Matt Maquet (SUNY Cortland) (TF-1.5 7:00 (18-2))
Quarterfinal - Travis Jones (Ithaca) won by major decision over Jacy Jones (Centenary (NJ)) (MD 18-6)
 
141 LB: Tito Colom
Champ. Round 1 - Tito Colom (Ithaca) won by fall over Colton Rex (Elizabethtown) (Fall 4:19)
Quarterfinal - Anthony Clarizio (Scranton) won by decision over Tito Colom (Ithaca) (Dec 7-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Tito Colom (Ithaca) won by major decision over Lukas O`Connor (Penn College) (MD 13-5)
 
149 LB: Ben Brisman
Champ. Round 1 - Ben Brisman (Ithaca) won by tech fall over James Ost (RIT) (TF-1.5 6:43 (20-2))
Quarterfinal - Ben Brisman (Ithaca) won by decision over Austin Reed (Brockport) (Dec 3-2)
 
157 LB: Sam Schneider
Champ. Round 1 - Sam Schneider (Ithaca) won by tech fall over Jacob Folk (Ursinus) (TF-1.5 5:53 (20-5))
Quarterfinal - Sam Schneider (Ithaca) won by major decision over Luke Gauthier (Merchant Marine) (MD 13-3)
 
165 LB: Austin Whitney
Champ. Round 1 - Austin Whitney (Ithaca) won by major decision over Jason Zollers (Ursinus) (MD 11-1)
Quarterfinal - Austin Whitney (Ithaca) won by major decision over Kieran Duggan (Merchant Marine) (MD 16-8)
 
174 LB: Jordan Wallace
Champ. Round 1 - Jordan Wallace (Ithaca) won by fall over Hunter Beaudet (Elizabethtown) (Fall 0:32)
Quarterfinal - Jordan Wallace (Ithaca) won by fall over Brian Jamison (Muhlenberg) (Fall 1:54)
 
184 LB: Eze Chukwuezi
Champ. Round 1 - Chibueze Chukwuezi (Ithaca) won by fall over Dayne Ross (Elizabethtown) (Fall 2:51)
Quarterfinal - Chibueze Chukwuezi (Ithaca) won by decision over Colby Giroux (RIT) (Dec 10-5)
 
197 LB: Dymir Davis-Carruth
Champ. Round 1 - Luca Colestock (Muhlenberg) won by major decision over Dymir Davis-Carruth (Ithaca) (MD 9-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Dymir Davis-Carruth (Ithaca) won by major decision over Leon Taryan (Hunter) (MD 11-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Justin Hopman (Centenary (NJ)) won by major decision over Dymir Davis-Carruth (Ithaca) (MD 9-1)
 
285 LB: Dalton Elias
Champ. Round 1 - Dalton Elias (Ithaca) won by major decision over Keegan McCord (Elizabethtown) (MD 11-3)
Quarterfinal - Sam Weinger (RIT) won by decision over Dalton Elias (Ithaca) (Dec 6-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Dalton Elias (Ithaca) won by decision over Jacob Raboy (Hunter) (Dec 10-7)